Promoting and maintaining high vaccination rates for recommended vaccines is a critical strategy for infection prevention. This virtual toolkit serves as a resource in assisting healthcare organizations and providers in their efforts to identify gaps and vaccinate more adults.

AMDA-The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine partnered with the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists, the Gerontological Advance Practice Nurses Association, the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, and the American Academy of Physician Assistants/Associates to create this toolkit for clinicians working in post acute and long-term care settings, treating the most vulnerable of our population.

This tool is for nursing home MDS Coordinators and those who support entering the MDS data. Use this information as a quick reference in addition to your Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) manual and Quality Measures (QM) Users Manual to accurately code influenza and pneumococcal vaccinations. Download here. 

This resource addresses frequently asked questions about the influenza and pneumococcal vaccines. Download here. 

Visit Telligen’s Long-Term Care NHSN resources page for more information.

The PneumoRecs VaxAdvisor mobile app helps vaccination providers quickly and easily determine which pneumococcal vaccines a patient needs and when. The app incorporates recommendations for all ages so internists, family physicians, pediatricians, and pharmacists alike will find the tool beneficial.

Access here.

Long COVID refers to symptoms that persist for weeks, months or even years after an initial COVID-19 infection. Long COVID can affect anyone, regardless of age or health status. This printable flyer provides an overview of Long COVID, including symptoms, risks and prevention.

This document explains how Medicare pays for vaccines administered during a patient’s stay in a nursing home. Vaccine payment depends on the type of vaccine and whether the patient is using their Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Part A benefit. This document doesn’t cover vaccine payment by Medicare managedcare, Medicaid or commercial insurance.

This resource is conveniently delivered in a quick video recording of less than 15 minutes. This bite size learning delivers essential information for any nursing home team members involved in the MDS coding process for the influenza and pneumonia quality measures.

Watch here.

These tips come directly from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in an effort to provide messaging and address concerns regarding the latest COVID-19 vaccine. Access here.

These resources from Health Quality Innovation Network assist with vaccine hesitancy and misinformation. Download here.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends using a Vaccine Ambassador Program to help increase vaccination rates by training individuals to have conversations with people about vaccinations using motivational interviewing techniques. Vaccine Ambassadors disseminate important health information in their communities and share their personal reasons for confidence in vaccines based on real-world experience. Adapted from the lay health advisor model, ambassadors are most effective when they are trusted community members and share similar beliefs and characteristics with their peers.

This one-page flyer provides strategies and key talking points that are supported with clinical evidence in order to address common staff concerns with the COVID-19 vaccines. Access here.

This collection of resources developed by Health Quality Innovation Network can help you promote vaccinations to patients, residents, families, staff members, community partners and clinicians. Download here.

• Education Information About Vaccines and Diseases They Prevent
• Talking with Patients about COVID-19 Vaccination
• Vaccine Recipient Education
• Make a Strong Influenza Vaccine Recommendation (SHARE)

This one-page flyer contains tips on increasing COVID-19 vaccine confidence. If you would like to learn more about promoting vaccine confidence, watch Telligen’s Promoting COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence Now with guest speaker, Dr. Leslie Eber.

“Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a collaborative, goal-oriented style of communication with particular attention to the language of change. It is designed to strengthen personal motivation for and commitment to a specific goal by eliciting and exploring the person’s own reasons for change within an atmosphere of acceptance and compassion.”  (Miller & Rollnick, 2013, p. 29)

Telligen completed a series on Motivational Interviewing, below are the recordings and presentations:

Motivational Interviewing series – Fishbowl Series

Part 1: Building Trust and Establishing Relationships

MI Part 1 Slides

MI Part 1 Recording (30 min. 22 sec.)

Part 2: Using your O.A.R.S

MI Part 2 Slides

MI Part 2 Recording (30 min. 35 sec.)

Part 3: Move to Understanding and Action

MI Part 3 Slides

MI Part 3 Recording (30 min. 18 sec.)

Watch the previous recordings of Ask an Expert featuring pharmacy topics below, or email nursinghome@telligen.com for prior sessions.

• June 29, 2023 | Ask an Expert: Update on COVID-19 Therapeutics (26 min. 49 sec.)
• January 19, 2023 | Ask an Expert: Bivalent vs. Monovalent COVID-19 Vaccine (29 min. 15 sec.)

Watch the previous recordings of Ask an Expert featuring emergency preparedness below, or email nursinghome@telligen.com for prior sessions.

• December 7, 2023 | Ask an Expert: E-Tags (Part 1 of 3) (28  min. 44 sec.)
  
  • December 14, 2023 | Ask an Expert: E-Tags (Part 2 of 3) (32 min. 18 sec.)
  • December 21, 2023 | Ask an Expert: E-Tags (Part 3 of 3) (28 min. 49 sec.)
• August 31, 2023 | Ask an Expert: Emergency Preparedness Plan (EPP) Assessment from Telligen (32 min. 42 sec.)
• Emergency Preparedness Planning Series
  • December 8, 2022 | Ask an Expert: Emergency Preparedness Planning – Risk Assessment (30 min. 8 sec.)
  • December 22, 2022 | Ask an Expert: Emergency Preparedness Planning – Emergency Plan (28 min. 38 sec.)
  • January 12, 2023 | Ask an Expert: Emergency Preparedness Planning – Communication Plan (26 min. 12 sec.)
  • January 26, 2023 | Ask an Expert: Emergency Preparedness Planning – Training Plan  (29 min. 15 sec.)
  • February 2, 2023 | Ask an Expert: Emergency Preparedness Planning – Testing and Drilling (27 min. 37 sec.)
  • February 16, 2023 | Ask an Expert: Emergency Preparedness Planning – Recovery (27 min. 24 sec.)

Watch the previous recordings of Ask an Expert featuring infection prevention below, or email nursinghome@telligen.com for prior sessions.

• January 25, 2024 | Ask an Expert: Onboarding Checklist for Infection Preventionists (28 min. 15 sec.)
• December 28, 2023 | Ask an Expert: Root Cause Analysis for Low Vaccine Rates (28 min. 30 sec.)
• October 19, 2023 | Ask an Expert: Infection Prevention and Control Rounding Tool and Next Steps (23 mins. 49 sec.)

Watch the previous recordings of Ask an Expert below, or email nursinghome@telligen.com for prior sessions.

• January 18, 2024 | Ask an Expert: Fall Tracking and Prevention (32 min. 21 sec.)
• November 30, 2023 | Ask an Expert: Leadership and Quality Improvement (31 min. 59 sec.)
• November 16, 2023 | Ask an Expert: Implicit Bias (28 min. 12 sec.)

Watch the previous recordings of Give Your Nursing Home a Boost below, or email nursinghome@telligen.com for prior sessions.

• January 23, 2024 | Give Your Nursing Home a Boost: How to Write a Strong SMART-IE Goal (25 min. 32 sec.)
• January 16, 2024 | Give Your Nursing Home a Boost: Improving Visitor Infection Control Compliance (28 min. 59 sec.)
• December 19, 2023 | Give Your Nursing Home a Boost: Leadership, Organizing and Action (29 min. 13 sec.)

Title: 

Episode 1: Conversations with the CMS CMO – The Facts Behind the Updated COVID-19 Vaccine: Safety and Efficacy

Length:

12 minutes and 32 seconds

Description:

Update:

Keeping up to date with the most recently approved COVID-19 vaccine provides the best protection against severe illness and death. As of September 2023, an updated formulation was approved and is recommended for all adults during the fall/winter season. The description below references the “new bivalent COVID-19 vaccine” which is no longer accurate, however the episode does provide valuable insight and answers to commonly asked questions about the vaccine. The original episode description is below:

The new bivalent COVID-19 vaccine provides even greater protection against severe illness and death than the original primary series. In this episode, hear from Peter Marks, MD, PhD, director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Biologics and Research about what makes the new bivalent COVID-19 vaccine different. Get answers to common questions about the updated vaccine and facts about the risks and side effects for the nursing home and long-term care population.

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Title: 

Episode 2: Conversations with the CMS CMO – Long-term Care Treatment Options for COVID-19

Length:

14 minutes and 28 seconds

Description:

Several treatment options are available for nursing home residents who are diagnosed with COVID-19. In this episode, learn from John Farley, MD, MPH from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Meg Sullivan, MD, MPH from the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) about the risks, benefits and common side effects of these treatments.

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Title: 

Episode 3: Conversations with the CMS CMO – CDC Programs for COVID-19 Infection Prevention and Vaccination in Nursing Homes

Length:

13 minutes and 22 seconds

Description:

Infection prevention and the use of vaccines is key to reducing the spread of COVID-19 in nursing homes and long-term care facilities. In this episode, Nimalie Stone, MD, MS and Arjun Srinivasan, MD from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) discuss CDC programs and collaborations that support nursing home efforts to promote infection prevention and vaccination and how health care providers can access the new vaccine for their facilities.

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Title: 

Length:

8 minutes and 33 seconds

Description:

High resident turnover challenges skilled nursing facilities as they seek to achieve and maintain high resident COVID-19 booster rates. In this episode, learn how motivational interviewing and education addressed vaccine hesitancy and increased resident COVID-19 booster rates within a high-turnover population.

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Title: 

Episode 5: From the Field – Lessons Learned About Improving COVID-19 Infection Control and Vaccination/Booster Rates

Length:

9 minutes and 17 seconds

Description:

Cultural experiences within a resident population can contribute to vaccine hesitancy. In this episode, learn how motivational interviewing and peer ambassadors helped one California nursing home increase COVID-19 vaccine confidence and its resident COVID-19 booster rate.

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Title: 

Episode 6: From the Field – Lessons Learned About Improving COVID-19 Infection Control and Vaccination/Booster Rates

Length:

7 minutes and 6 seconds

Description:

Nursing home staff play a critical role in preventing COVID-19 spread and mortality in long-term care facilities. In this episode, learn about the infection prevention barriers staff face and what they need to continue doing to be successful in preventing the spread of COVID-19.

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Title: 

Episode 7: From the Field – Lessons Learned About Improving COVID-19 Infection Control and Vaccination/Booster Rates

Length:

7 minutes and 10 seconds

Description:

Understanding how to adapt basic infection prevention practices during a public health emergency like COVID-19 and how to identify residents who need to be cohorted is vital to reducing the spread of COVID-19. In this episode, learn about best practices for cohorting and COVID-19 infection control.

Listen/Watch:

Title: 

Episode 8: From the Field – Lessons Learned About Improving COVID-19 Infection Control and Vaccination/Booster Rates

Length:

8 minutes and 56 seconds

Description:

Increasing COVID-19 vaccine confidence among culturally diverse populations from a health equity perspective is critical to ensuring uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine and booster. In this episode, learn how the OARS+ Model for Motivational Interviewing and other tools helped one nursing home serving Native American residents increase its resident COVID-19 booster rate.

Listen/Watch: